Militants Back 'Queer,' Shoving 'Gay' the Way of 'Negro'

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY

Published: April 6, 1991

"Queer," a word long bandied in schoolyards and bars as a taunt, has acquired a new meaning: it has been adopted, proudly and defiantly, by a new generation of young militants. Their use of the word has created a rift in the gay community, alienating many older members haunted by its pejorative connotations.

"We've fought 20 years to get 'gay' accepted and it has been a total success," said a middle-aged man who attended a forum on the word held in Greenwich Village on Tuesday. His voice shook as he addressed the crowd of 200. "I just don't get it -- 'queer' is the word they used to torture us with."

The word is gaining currency in New York, San Francisco and other major cities, and the attendant controversy underscores a growing generation gap within the gay community. It divides youthful, self-described "separatists," roused to a new militant rage by the AIDS epidemic, from those who came of political age in the 60's, and for whom political struggle has long focused on issues like privacy and tolerance.

Those who define themselves as "queer" say they are reclaiming the term from bigots who use it as a slur, and turning it into an ironic badge of honor, not unlike the pink triangle that homosexuals were compelled to wear in Nazi Germany, which is now proudly worn by gay marchers and demonstrators.

The word's shock value gives it political potency. Like the movement that embraced it, "queer" is confrontational.

"It is an in-your-face kind of thing -- that's what I liked about it," said Liz Powers, 34 years old, of Queer Nation, a group formed a year ago to combat gaybashing. "Using a word that is so offensive is a way of showing your anger."

Queer Nation, whose motto is "We're Here/We're Queer/Get Used to It," has chapters in cities across the country but no appointed or elected leaders, and does not refer to adherents as members. Ms. Powers calls herself a Queer Nationalist. 'Queer' Signifies Activist Spirit

"Gay, to me, has a very specific meaning," she said. "A certain kind of white, middle-class, assimilationist homosexual."

Dave Fleck, also of Queer Nation, put it this way: "Queer signifies a rebirth of energy, the spirit of activism that happened in the '70s. This is a newer, hipper generation."

Steven Miller, chairman of the media committee of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, observed that the consternation over the word was in fact "a linguistic facade" covering what he called "deep divisions" between lesbian and gay militants and moderates. 'I Wouldn't Use The Word'

Yet it is more of an issue of sensibility than overt ideology. More established gay and lesbian organizations, like the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, work closely with firebrand groups like Act-Up, an AIDS lobbying group, or Queer Nation.

Few of the Task Force's leaders expressed strong objections to "queer" or to those who use it. Tom Stoddard, the director of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, said, "I wouldn't use the word myself, but I fully understand those who do."

Advocates of "queer" point out that when the gay liberation movement arose in the late 1960's, its use of the word "gay" also pitted radicals against those who were reluctant to replace the term preferred in mainstream society, "homosexual." It took two decades for gay to win widespread acceptance.

"The word 'queer' startles the way the word 'gay' once startled, and no longer does," Mr. Stoddard observed.

Yet "queer," to many, carries far more damaging connotations than "gay" ever did. Campion Reed, a member of the politically moderate Stonewall Democratic Club, argued that use of the word by homosexuals would only give greater license to heterosexuals to employ degrading language. "Should politicians discuss 'queers' and 'faggots' on the Senate floor?" he asked. Anger Over 'Homo' Remark

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is seeking the removal of a Federal judge in Washington, Oliver Gasch, who in a recent hearing referred to a plaintiff fighting dismissal from the Naval Academy for being homosexual as a "homo."

Outweek, a brash two-year-old New York-based gay and lesbian news magazine, ran a cover story last May entitled, "Queer Fashion." Such prominent use of the word generated heated debate among readers and within its editorial offices. "We talked a lot about it at first," said Gabriel Rotello, the editor. "We're still discussing it."

The word's meaning in the magazine has evolved over the ensuing year. "Originally it denoted a certain type of radical gay or lesbian activist," Mr. Rotello explained, "Now, it encompasses all sexual minorities."

Mr. Rotello said that part of the word's appeal was journalistic expedience. "When you're trying to describe the community, and you have to list gays, lesbians, bisexuals, drag queens, transsexuals (post-op and pre), it gets unwieldly. Queer says it all." The New York Native, an older, more established gay newspaper, does not use the term.

To Richard Goldstein, the executive editor of The Village Voice, who has begun using the word in his column, queer covers all sexual minorities, but also carries another nuance. "It's also a word that connotes militance: activists who are fervent or outrageous. It means the assertive homosexual." 'At 47, I'm Too Old to be Queer'

And there are those who call themselves queer, yet do not relish the prospect of having the word spread beyond their community. "I am not for any straight writer using the word 'queer' in a mainstream publication," said Donna Minkowitz, a writer for The Village Voice. "This is our word," she explained. "I can say it, but you can't."

But Mr. Reed and others argue that homosexuals cannot limit use of the word and point to a recent column by the right-wing columnist Pat Buchanan, who denounced gay participation in last month's St. Patrick's Day parade. Noting that the gay group's marshal wore a 'Queer Boy' T-shirt, Mr. Buchanan wrote: "In cavorting with Queer Boy, David Dinkins showed an utter lack of respect for the Catholic families at the parade and for the Church."

Many advocates of "queer" draw parallels to the Black Power movement and the resistance that greeted its leaders' efforts to substitute "black" for "Negro." 'I Loathed the Word'

Ronald Gans, 45, a computer analyst who was active in the Gay Lberation Front in the late 60's and attended Tuesday's forum, vehemently objected to "queer" and to analogies to the civil rights movement. "Blacks, Jews and women never defined themselves with derogatory words," he insisted. "The reason is obvious, just obvious: could you imagine a group calling itself 'Kike Nation?' "

Yet many leaders of gay organizations are more sanguine about the new word, and the movement that has rallied behind it. "For so many years I loathed the word," said Larry Kramer, 55, a writer who is also a founder of Act-Up. "But these youngsters have come along and effectively and usefully defused it."

Photo: The epithet "queer" has been adopted with pride by a new generation of young gay militants. Last year, a group calling itself "Queer Nation" protested violence against homosexuals in New York City. (Ben Thornberry) (pg. 24.)